


The other path

by Taera



Series: The other path (alternate vampire!AU) [1]
Category: Assassin's Creed
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Available in Russian, Blood Drinking, Character Turned Into Vampire, M/M, Souled Vampire(s), Vampire Turning, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-10
Updated: 2016-06-10
Packaged: 2018-07-14 07:22:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7159382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taera/pseuds/Taera
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>True-born Corax had found his conjugius at a party where the man wasn't even supposed to be, because, as it turned out, he was serving Assyfs.<br/>And Coraxes were his enemies.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The other path

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [Другая тропа](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5080687) by [Tatrien (Taera)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taera/pseuds/Tatrien). 



> Alternate branch of my [vampire!AU](http://archiveofourown.org/series/269218) where Shay is Monro's conjugius, also I changed a little some vampire physiology (mainly the process of transformation).
> 
> Many thanks to Djulian-of-Amberus for beta-reading.
> 
>  
> 
> ..No, I'm not ashamed :D
> 
> About the terminology in short:  
> Corax is from the Latin Corax;  
> Assyf is from Malik's last name Al-Sayf;  
> conjugius is from Latin conjugium and, in part, conjunx/conjuga.

Shay knew perfectly well that even if he were a great master of sword and stealth (and, truth be told, he oh so _wasn’t_ ), he was still only a human and would've been nothing compared to any decent vampire. Kesegowaase had hammered it into his head with so much zeal that Shay actually understood it and realized that his only chance to live through a meeting with a Corax was _running_ , and _hiding,_ and using all and every tool he had at his disposal to get rid of the vampire. And, since Kesegowaase was dead serious when it came to teaching, he taught Shay weak points of the vampires and the most efficient ways of killing them on the off chance Shay would get an opportunity to inflict damage to some Corax fledgling; also, by all his teachers Shay was showed in person again and again that no human had even the barest of chances to stealthily get close to a vampire – humans were so inferior that it was almost depressing. Shay knew perfectly well that he was no match to a Corax; however, he also knew that if he were to move fast and not to project any hostility, he would be able to sneak around and learn something interesting. Perhaps even valuable. And, perhaps, he would even be able to return from the hostile territory alive. He didn't think of killing anyone at all - for a human agent, it would undoubtedly be a total failure, because when humans thought of killing, they projected animosity very powerfully.

That's why Shay was totally surprised when he was chosen to retrieve the artifacts that were stolen by Coraxes. Yes, Liam was at his side, but even he wouldn't be of any use if they were to face a Master of the Coraxes' Colonial Rite; Liam was too young for that kind of a challenge. At least they could be glad the Inner Circle of Coraxes' was undermined by some feuds unknown to Assyfs, and that Lawrence Washington turned out to be merely a turned vampire, though a strong one (his younger brother-human clearly indicated Lawrence was not born vampire), and was suffering from the iron poisoning after his encounter with Adéwalé in the Caribbean.

But what a tough luck; at the party, during which Shay was planning to sneak up on Washington and learning something about the artifacts, he saw several unfamiliar and strong vampires besides Washington's Inner Circle. And what was even worse: one of the new faces, an old man in the British Army uniform, was a true vampire. It was clear by the body language of all the turned ones that attended this party. Shay noticed this true-born too late, he already sneaked too deeply into the mansion's grounds and it would've been more dangerous to turn back now than to continue, although Shay managed to successfully flee to the half-dark park before Corax noticed him. If this true-born wasn't here, Shay would've already made it close enough to Washington to eavesdrop; right this very moment the Grand Master gathered his Inner Circle and was discussing something with them, Shay saw it through the thick greens of the arbor wall. But the true-born was near Lawrence, and he was a little bit too suspiciously looking around and... sniffing.

Swallowing, Shay pressed his hand to his chest and willed his heart to slow its drumming - the results weren't very good, but they existed nonetheless, so panic did not lick Shay's heels with its cold thorny tongue. Then he spent several minutes on a short meditation, just to reduce his emotional tension and to get rid of his excessively emotional responses to what was happening around him. Shay knew that vampires, especially true-born, in addition to the soft sounds and weak scents could also sense emotions that were too alien for the background projected by other living beings around them; at some point, Shay spent a whole year learning how to mask his emotions. After all, he always was a very expressive young man, and Kesegowaase was a strict teacher and did not move onto the next subject until his pupils mastered what he was teaching them at the moment.

When Shay returned to his mission, the true-born was on the opposite side of the courtyard already and speaking with Washington. Other members of the Inner Circle were nowhere to be seen; Shay missed his opportunity to eavesdrop on Coraxes' plans. But he didn't want to return barehanded because that way all the trouble he and Liam went through would be for nothing. He could search the house yet. Shay realized there would be no artifacts there, but, maybe, he'd get lucky and find some documents concerning Coraxes and their activity in the colonies?

He sneaked into the mansion easily enough; after all, he spent so much time training with Kesegowaase and Hope he couldn’t _not_ learn to move stealthily. The problems started at the second floor. Very, very big problems. For when Shay carefully entered yet another dark room he saw that old looking true-born, sitting in a chair facing the door. It was hard to make out his face in the semi-darkness, but his glowing light-blue eyes were hard to mistake for anything else. Shay didn't have time even to yelp; he was grabbed by the lapels of his coat and dragged deeper into the room. A silent click behind him indicated the door had locked itself.

All human servants and pupils of Assyfs were almost brainwashed on a daily basis when it came to the _do not let any Corax catch you alive_. They were told in vivid details what vampires did to humans when they needed information, and the only way Shay could die quickly and easily was to thrust the blade into his throat with his own hand. If he didn't want to leave any information to his enemies, his death had to be instantaneous.

Shay didn't want to die. He faltered only for a fraction of a second, and the true-born managed to take advantage even of that. Suppressing any and all resistance Shay could offer, Corax tore away all his weapons and the coat, yanked the collar of his shirt, ripping the cloth and cravat, and, his snow-white fangs glinting in the low light, plunged them into Shay's throat. At first, the pain came; understandable expected pain from the bite. Any control that by some miracle Shay managed to keep over his emotions, shattered into thousands of pieces, and he drowned in horror, aware of his imminent death. Shay tried to break loose, but the iron grip on his shoulders did not budge even for an inch.

Then the weakness came. Understandable, too; he was swiftly drained of his blood, after all. But when along with the ringing head and the weakened knees came the first licks of a pleasant fire somewhere deep in his stomach, Shay tried to push the vampire away once more. His strength was barely there at all, the pleasure grew in a slow, imminent wave, and it aroused the darkest suspicions Shay was able of. He never heard of such things. He didn't want to hear.

He wanted to live.

When the vampire moved away, Shay was frantically gasping for air, as if he couldn't get enough of it. He could barely stand on his feet, and foreign strong hands that were holding him by his shoulders now seemed not only an insuperable obstacle but something completely unshakeable, something he would never be able to get rid of. Red lips curved in a smile. Blinking, Shay realized that he was closely watching this mouth, stained by his own blood. He was afraid to even consider what that vampire learned from it. Shay wasn't drowning in waves of horror only because the aftereffects of the bite (deadened senses, weakness, pleasure) weren't abating at all. On the contrary. Something heady continued to course through his body, lulling his vigilance.

The last thing he remembered before he lost consciousness - the content gaze of glowing light-blue eyes.

Dreams and reality lost sharp edges, green plantations morphed into the azure ocean and dirty city streets, smells made his head spun and his eyes lose focus, his body refusing to obey and move. The only thing that remained constant was the presence of the true-born who captured Shay at Mount-Vernon. Even when Shay didn’t see him, his sixth sense screamed the vampire was somewhere nearby. Watching. Guarding.

Shay wasn’t sure, but he thought this vampire drank his blood several more times. Or was this suffocating weakness caused by the long and exhausting travel? It was always hard to ride through the forest. Or through the swamps? The ringing in his head was jamming all and every other sound, and those rare words that managed to cut through it were like hollow sequences of shaking air. Shay tried to fight this stupor and return to the reality, but each time he started to make progress Corax appeared, locked their gazes – and the blue light swallowed everything like a fog.

And then his ankles burned with cold, clanging of chains tearing into his mind, and Shay abruptly came to his senses, away from the strange state the vampire was keeping him in. Taking a deep and broken breath, the air dry but warm, Shay sat and, clutching at his head splitting with pain, blindly stared at the shackles around his ankles. That's why it was so cold. Later, when a headache somewhat subsided and Shay could move without risking to retch, he looked around.

Apart from a bed, a table, and a chair, the room was completely empty. There wasn't even a single window, and all the light came from the barred little window in the door. Shay didn’t have even a candle here. No chance for him to harm anyone. The chains, thick as two of his fingers and well-kept, ended at the ring in the floor near the bottom of the bed, but what was even more frightening was the absence of all Shay’s equipment. Moreover, the clothes he was in right now weren’t his own. But, considering the true-born learned everything Shay knew, the sewed into the seams lock picks weren’t secret for him, and it was a lot easier simply to change his clothes completely rather than rip out all the instruments.

That vampire.

Shay shuddered, remembering when he bit him for the first time. His hand flew to his throat on its own volition, and Shay indeed felt scars from the bites, one of them very fresh. How much time exactly had that true-born already been feeding on him? Looking over the rest of his body, Shay was relieved to see no other bite marks, though he was annoyed when he saw how thin he'd become. He wasn't very plump before, and now only muscles, acquired in long training sessions, saved him from being characterized as a “skin and bone”. But even those wouldn’t last long if that Corax continued to suck him so dry.

No, it would’ve been better if he’d died. What possibly could be worse than being a constant donor for a vampire?

Shay didn’t sink into the swamp of self-torment and depression because he heard steps coming from the corridor. Judging by the acoustics, that corridor was short and decorated with wooden panels. Then came clicks of the opening lock (without any key, again telekinesis), and the door swung into the room, letting in the light and the true-born vampire. Shay couldn’t suppress a shudder and moved to the edge of the bed that was the farthest from the door, pressing his back to the wall. The clattering of chains scratched at his nerves.

The vampire was without any coat or vest, his bright-red lips like a wound on a pale background of his light skin and white shirt. Wrinkles had furrowed his face, but Shay knew perfectly well this was just an illusion because blue-grey eyes weren’t cold enough for his outward age to be his real one. Shay didn’t forget how Hope described the permafrost of the Ancients.

“Do you know what will happen if I gave you my blood?” the vampire asked, moving the chair closer to the bed and sitting down on it, facing Shay. It was the first time Cormac heard his voice. And it was unexpectedly soft and pleasant so that Shay had to mentally shook himself to concentrate on the question.

“No,” he rasped. Nor Assyfs, nor the senior human servants indeed never told him about that. Even Liam hadn’t talked on the subject of how a human could become a vampire, he said only that Initiation needed a sequence of certain actions, and it was impossible to become a vampire by accident.

“I will bind you to myself and put my mark on you. You will become a vampire, my Child.”

“No! I will not serve you!” Shay lunged forward, blind with rage, but his gaze got caught by the shimmering blue eyes, and the next moment he was recoiling back against the wall. He remembered what power that gaze held. The fires of anger quickly subsided, giving place to fear and despair. Begging for death was foolish; if Corax hasn't killed him yet, then he needed Shay for something. More so, if he was ready to bind him so tightly to himself that he was ready to turn him into a vampire. Shay shouldn’t have doubted, he should’ve killed himself while he had the chance.

“Soon you will change your mind.”

Nodding to his thoughts, vampire climbed onto the bed and quickly caught Shay under him. Cormac was terrified to feel in his stomach something akin to a spark of anticipation. Corax arched an eyebrow and tilted his head a little to the side; he, too, noticed changes in his victim. Then, without wasting any more time, he bit his own wrist, took full mouth of blood and, fixing Shay’s chin with a hand, pressed their lips together. Shay, of course, was stubbornly fighting him at every step, and so he ended up with all the vampire’s blood smeared on the lower part of his face, his lips prickling strangely. Corax didn’t get angry, though, his blue eyes flashing when he pressed their lips together once more, this time simply kissing. Shay couldn’t hold back a sigh, and the moment his mouth opened the alien tongue got in, the tart taste of vampire’s blood seeping deeply. A moment later a bright flash of pleasure tore through Shay's body and he moaned, going limp under Corax's pressure.

Feeling obedience, vampire moved away and looked down at Cormac with a satisfied smile: “Quod erat demonstandum.”

“What?” rasped Shay.

A wave of hot pleasure twisted him, and if it wasn’t for Corax sitting on him right now, Shay would’ve rolled to his side and curled into a tiny ball. He was shivering. He was hot. His heart beating fast like a bird in a tight cage, somewhere low in his stomach a great fire starting.

“You are taking my blood very good.”

When Shay heard _my_ _blood_ , a chorus of _want-it-want-it-want-it-want-it_ erupted in his head loud and piercing, and he bit his lower lip trying to shake this insanity off. Heady tartness prickled his tongue, and Shay managed only a short “s _hite_ ” before another wave engulfed him.

“I haven’t seen such a striking reaction in quite some time,” Corax let his fingers pensively slide down Shay’s throat to the hollow between his clavicles and lower yet, to where the shirt's open collar would let him. And at that simple touch, Shay was frantically gulping for air and swallowing, to no avail trying to push away this fake pleasure.

Bending down, vampire looked Shay in the eyes and added: “Your scent lured me with such strength for a reason.”

And then again predatorily glinting fangs and piercing pain; this time paired with blinding bliss. Shay didn't notice when he actually grabbed Corax's shoulders. Only when true-born smugly hummed and once more crushed Shay's lips in not so soft a kiss (tartness mixed with the salty bitterness of his own blood), Shay realized what exactly he was doing. He responded to this indecency, he wasn't fighting anymore. Alien weight was pressing him to the bed, and he moaned in pleasure, writhing in a torrent of strange pleasure. When Shay came to the very edge, when he was absolutely sure that one more second and he would fall into the abyss, vampire abruptly moved away and with searching eyes looked down at Shay. And Cormac was burning, he had no idea whether it was because of the Corax’s blood or not. He clutched the sheets, arching his back, pressing his head into the mattress, his breathing fast and shallow, and uneven; Shay barely managed to swallow all his moans. The fire was growing, shrouding him from toes to the top of his head, burning out a mark on his essence.

Shay didn’t know how long he had been lying, watching the fire dance on the inner side of his eyelids. When he came to his senses and raised himself on his elbows, weak and shaking, the room was empty again. The only difference between this time and the previous awakening was a ball of warmth in his chest. When Shay remembered how exactly he acquired this vampire's mark, a shudder went through his whole body. And it was not a shudder of disgust. His hand on its own volition went to his throat.

No scars.

The skin was smooth and clean. After a short inspection of himself, Shay found out that all of his old scars also vanished, leaving him no marks from his previous life. Immediately Shay remembered how Liam was bragging after his Initiation about the absence of the ugly scar that was marring his chest for as long as Shay remembered.

Mark or no mark, this time, it was a shudder of coldness and terror. The true-born really was turning him into a vampire.

It was extremely urgent for Shay to find a way to stop this process. While he still had time. While he had not betrayed his brothers.

Fighting the dizziness and nausea that periodically reared their heads, Shay started a careful examination of his cell, looking for anything that he could turn into a weapon. Nothing. The chain was too thick, he won’t be able to strangle himself with it. Not that he had any strength to do it anyway, as well as to create a rope from the bed sheets for the same goal. Corax left him no chance of escaping the fate worse than death. He was left only with lying in despair and noticing changes. Keener sight and hearing, suspiciously dry throat, warmth somewhere in his stomach.

It took just a moment of his attention to this warmth for it to flare up like a bright fire, and Shay jerked; it was as if someone punched him in the guts. Everything went blurry, his lungs refused to take in the air he oh so needed right now, but the most horrifying thing was not that. Busy with the most pronounced reactions, Shay completely overlooked the exact moment when he had got a hard-on, and now he was biting his hands in an attempt to keep them from succumbing to the bright desire burning in him. Not once before in his whole life had he ever had this much aversion to the carnal pleasures; he always tried to snatch as much as he could, but now be stuffed himself with a mouthful he would never be able to swallow. He didn’t want to forget the disgust and the terror he felt for the true-born Corax before he bit him for the first time. Those were the real feelings. And everything Shay felt right now was delusion and hypnosis. He never heard of a vampire’s blood acting like an aphrodisiac.

Shay almost believed he would come out victorious from his fight with this insistent urge to push his groin into the mattress (by that time he already rolled on his stomach). The most excruciating sharpness indeed began to subside, the throbbing pain in his hands and the metallic taste of blood on his tongue almost sobering him up.

And then a chilly hand fell on his nape, sending a lightning though Shay’s spine; he moaned, stiffening even more. He was afraid to move, his nerves buzzing from the tension, ready to snap any moment now. That hand slid down Shay’s back slowly, and with every passing second he was trembling stronger and stronger, he felt his self-control covering in cracks, he felt it shuddering, ready to bury under its debris him and all the sanity he had left.

“Stop resisting, Shay. It is a meaningless waste of strength.”

“No,” Cormac hissed through gritted teeth, screwing his eyes shut so tight he saw colorful kaleidoscope under his eyelids.

The hand stopped on Shay’s waist. Only his shirt saved him from the skin to skin contact.

“Stop it. I don’t want-”

"The point is not what you or I want. The blood knows no borders, no enemies, and friends. You are my conjugius, your blood tells that without any doubt, as well as your reaction to my own blood."

“ _No..._ ” moaning, Shay bit down onto the meat of his hand in an attempt to fight the lightheadedness and another approaching shiver. It was almost painful for him to hear Corax’s voice.

When true-born abruptly turned him onto his back and pressed with all his weight, taking Shay's hand away from his mouth and pinning it to the sheets, Cormac couldn’t suppress a cry of surprise that almost immediately melted into a groan, because demanding lips covered his own. Trying to reciprocate, Shay managed to scratch his tongue over Corax’s fangs several times, the taste of his human blood mixing with the sweet tartness. What Shay did not expect, was to hear vampire groan and kiss him even harder. Then there was ripping of clothes and the cold lips tore away from Shay’s mouth, moving lower, and for several moments Cormac stopped breathing, drunk on Corax’s blood, deaf from the staccato of his own heartbeat. The warmth in the chest flared again from a single spark into the full-blown flame, bright and straining to get loose, and with every time Corax touched him it was a little bit harder for Shay to hold this small sun under control.

“Sto-” there were no main vein where the vampire bit him, and Shay had no idea why had he even done it, yet he could do nothing to tame his reaction; as if lightning struck him, making him cling to Corax’s shoulders trying either push away or, on the contrary, keep him from in place.

“Be patient, Shay.”

Warm breath washed over the sensitive skin of his lower abdomen, and Cormac didn’t notice when he managed to move his legs apart, giving Corax room to do with him as he pleased, realizing only just now the exact meaning of the pose he’d got himself into. The vampire was too close to his hard-on and only those cool hands on Shay’s waist kept him from pushing up in search of tightness and friction.

“Be patient,” Corax repeated with more force, moving away and looking Shay in the eyes.

Shay barely swallowed a sob threatening to break loose and tried to reach orgasm with his own hands; with such audience, it would be awkwardly fast anyway. But the vampire caught his hands and pressed them into the mattress, burning blue eyes inches from Shay’s.

“Soon the transformation will end,” Corax’s voice was not soft at all, absolutely different from what Shay heard earlier. Now it was only low growling notes, full of promises either of supreme delight or of dreadful tortures.

"Don't want it," the flame roaring, burning him alive, but there was no pain now; only dissatisfaction and void inside, as if for completion he needed one last piece of the puzzle which this Corax refused to give him.

“There is no turning back, partner mine. I have no intention of losing my chance and giving you to Assyfs. Be patient, Shay.”

Another bloody kiss came soon after, and Shay could no longer discern his red from the Corax’s; all merged to the same headiness, and he longed for more and more yet, he answered to every swipe of tongue and bite of teeth, coaxing out moans and blood from the Corax, drinking his thorny power which he generously poured into him. Shay didn’t care that mere seconds ago he could feel no power at all, that the void within started to fill quickly, that the burning from the throat had spread throughout his chest.

The thirst.

When Corax moved away, Shay tried to catch his lips with his own for they were too tempting, bright red from all the blood, but felt something hard pressing into his groin and couldn’t contain a long groan, pressing back of his head hard into the mattress, thighs pushing forward into the so longed-for tightness. Sharp fangs once more pierced Shay’s neck, and if he had any strength left in him he would’ve screamed; white blinding fire roaring like an erupting volcano, flooding Shay from the inside with scorching hot magma, and he sunk, choking on the power torrents coursing through him.

Tasting familiar tartness on his lips, Shay started to swallow the red greedily. His arms refused to obey and he had to crane his neck to let his lips press hard to the torn wound. With every gulp he took the flames inside died away slowly, calming down, curling into a bright cord. The moment Shay had some strength he clutched at the offered arm, pressing his mouth to the wound even harder; but blood wasn’t flowing as freely as before, and with every passing second the red river was getting thinner and thinner. Then a sharp pain shot through Shay’s mouth, tartness mixing with spiciness, and Shay could feel his own fangs with his tongue; as long and sharp as those Corax had. A second later Cormac used his fang as he was meant to, biting into his Master’s forearm like a good little vampire.

A moan came somewhere from above.

“How strong you are, my Shay. Drink. Drink and become even stronger.”


End file.
